Method and system for sorting online advertisements

Abstract

A method and system for sorting online advertisements to enable users of online advertising networks, auctions, merchants, etc. to identify known or trusted parties are provided. Users designate other users as friends. When a user searches for or browses through advertisements, those advertisements posted by the user's friends are easily identified. Advertisements posted by members of the user's network (i.e., friends of the user's friends) are also easily identified.

1. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium embodying a computer-readable program that, upon execution by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method of providing electronic advertisements, said method comprising:
 establishing one or more trusted primary sources; 
 establishing one or more trusted secondary sources, the trusted secondary sources being a function of one or more trusted primary sources; 
 accessing electronic advertisement data; 
 authenticating a source of the electronic advertisement data by verifying that the source of the electronic advertisement data is either a trusted primary source or a trusted secondary source; 
 determining whether a source rating exceeds a threshold based on repeated and consistent favorable ratings; 
 assigning increased authenticity to each source whose rating exceeds the threshold; 
 displaying, for selection, on a display means one or more items corresponding to electronic advertisement data from an authenticated source, 
 wherein sources identified as having increased authenticity are displayed first on the display means; 
 performing an e-commerce transaction relating to the one or more items when the source of the electronic advertisement data has been authenticated, wherein the e-commerce transaction comprises buying or selling a product or service; 
 receiving and storing comment data entered into a computer by a user, the comment data comprising one or more user comments related to a particular transaction between the user and the source; 
 assigning a rating of 1 to 5 to the transaction based on the comment data; 
 determining whether a source status of the source is modified based on the transaction between the user and the source; 
 searching the electronic advertisement data utilizing one or more search criteria, wherein the search criteria is selected from a group that includes each of: tag data, date data; location data, cost data, and comment data; 
 sorting the electronic advertisement data utilizing one or more sorting criteria, wherein the sorting criteria is selected from a group that includes each of: geographic location, age, or condition of the good or services; and 
 displaying a number of times that a particular electronic advertisement has been accessed. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising accessing comment data associated with particular electronic advertisement data; and displaying the comment data. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising restricting access to the comment data. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising associating selected electronic advertisement data with an identifier to facilitate subsequent retrieval of the electronic advertisement data. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising establishing a category of preferred sources of electronic advertisement data. 
     
     
       6. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium embodying a computer-readable program that, upon execution by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method of providing online advertisements, said method comprising:
 establishing one or more user accounts for an associated user; 
 establishing one or more trusted primary sources for each user account; 
 establishing one or more trusted secondary sources for each user account, the trusted secondary sources being a function of one or more trusted primary sources; 
 accessing electronic advertisement data in response to a user's command; 
 identifying a source of the electronic advertisement data; 
 authenticating the source of the electronic advertisement data by verifying that the source is either a trusted primary source or a trusted secondary source associated with the user account; 
 determining whether a source rating exceeds a threshold based on repeated and consistent favorable ratings; 
 assigning increased authenticity to each source whose rating exceeds the threshold; 
 displaying, for selection, on a display means one or more items corresponding to electronic advertisement data from an authenticated source, 
 wherein sources identified as having increased authenticity are displayed first on the display means; 
 facilitating an e-commerce transaction when the source of the electronic advertisement data has been authenticated, wherein the e-commerce transaction comprises buying or selling a product or service; 
 receiving and storing comment data entered into a computer by a user, the comment data comprising one or more user comments related to a particular transaction between the user and the source; 
 assigning a rating of 1 to 5 to the transaction based on the comment data; 
 determining whether a source status of the source is modified based on the transaction between the user and the source; 
 searching the electronic advertisement data utilizing one or more search criteria, wherein the search criteria is selected from a group that includes each of: tag data, date data; location data, cost data, and comment data; 
 sorting the electronic advertisement data utilizing one or more sorting criteria, wherein the sorting criteria is selected from a group that includes each of: geographic location, age, or condition of the good or services; and 
 displaying a number of times that a particular electronic advertisement has been accessed. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , further comprising regulating access to comment data associated with particular electronic advertisement data. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising restricting access to the comment data. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 6 , further comprising associating selected electronic advertisement data with an identifier to facilitate subsequent retrieval of the electronic advertisement data. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 6 , further comprising establishing a category of preferred sources of electronic advertisement data.